October 21, 2009

I am 3 weeks or so into this experiment and the greatest thing that (I think) stands in the way of everyone being a vegtarian or devoting themselves to a conscoius lifestyle would be - convenience. And obviously a desire to live that way. But I'm going to talk about convenience for a bit.

When it comes to this day and age we want things fast and cheap. I should be able to go and buy milk somehwere at 3am! Shouldn't I? I should be able to get a shirt for $5 from Wal-Mart instead of $20 from some other store. I want it now and I want it cheap! There is something wrong with this ideology. Escpecially when we don't take others into account or even consider the lifestyle we're living.

We had a discussion in Sociology of the Family the other day that dealt with 3rd shift workers and the necesity of convenience. We want it now, but we don't give any thought to who is providing me with now. The workers who are stuck in Wal-Mart from 11pm-7am. What if these individuals have families? We encourage them to work them to lose time with their family in order to encourage our lifestyle. Is it worth it? I know that I wouldn't want to work a shift like that and scarifice time with my family - not if I could help it. But the thing is - not everyone can help it. They need to work that 3rd shift or that 2nd job - in order to survive. Why did we create an economy that never sleeps...? To who does it benefit? The Middle-class and upper classes - America's Majority.

Wal-Mart adds fuels the poverty flame by providing poor wages to their employees and then offers the lowest prices so that the poor and middle class are forced to shop there. They know exactly what they're doing. It's a vicious cycle. How do we get out of it? How do you tell someone not to shop at Wal-Mart - I know a lot of people who would hate on me for hating on Wal-Mart. Why wouldn't I want to have that convenience in my life!? Maybe...because others don't.

Do I really need it...now?

I was also wondering (this has nothing to do with Wal-Mart, but is something I've been thinking about as of late) - is ADD a recent phenomena or has it been around for centuries undiagnosed. I think that children get mixed signals from the world about how to behave. We let them watch TV, do their homework, eat dinner, and talk on the phone all at the same time. No wonder they don't know how to focus on one thing! I was thinking back to a day of Laura Ingle Wilder and Little House in the Big Woods - how they would all sit by the fire at night together: reading or knitting, singing together, or listening to a bible story. One thing at a time. I'm glad that I know how to multi-task, but I've noticed that my focus time is increasingly smaller when listening to music, in front of a computer, and attempting to do my homework. I don't think it would be so bad to do one thing at a time. But in this day and age...do I have time for that? One thing at a time.

Confession Time:1. I have shopped at Wal-Mart three times - all out of convenience. One was a card for my friend, another was for electronics that I wanted (my head phones were dead), and another was for some groceries (milk and peaches) at 11pm.KT- How do I break this cycle of shopping at Wal-Mart? What does it take? Planning ahead, getting creative, using what resources I have.2. I have eaten meat 3 times.KT-I think this has been harder for me than anything - because I like meat. I don't think it's wrong to eat animals, but I do think it's a waste of resources. So, I need to keep remininding myself how much water, grain, oil, carbon emissions all went into this hamburger or chicken that I'm eating. Hmm...doesn't taste so yummy anymore. :/ The greatest struggle has been finding food that I want to eat. I joined a community on Livejournal called Lazy Vegetarians. =) Well, it gives recipes for vegan and vegetarian options. I eat in the KCC most of the time, so I don't have too much control over recipes, but I do need to get more creative.

I am considering this October my trial run or my starting point. It's hard to quit something cold turkey, which I was trying to do. It felt like lent! So, my plan from here is to finish this October with the best of my ability by avoiding meat and Wal-Mart. Then after that I'm going to evaluate some of my success and failures and see where I move from here...after October. I want to start living more in harmony with the Earth and her people and I want to have good reasoning behind all of my actions.

October 14, 2009

Today we only worked half day, because while we thoroughly enjoy working at SERRV we were anxious to be back at Bridgewater. So, we cut out at 12.

Yay for SERRV employees! Mary Ann Grossnickle is this wonderful woman who works at SERRV. She is the volunteer coordinator and the person that Tricia talks to when planning our Alternative Fall Break excursion. Mary Ann is so good to us, she's a Bridgewater College graduate, too. She talked to us about taking a packet back to our bookstore to sell fair trade chocolate and other goods. I think it could totally fly. She also challenged us on how to reach out to college students with fair trade, or how to make it college student friendly. That's such a great question. I've thought about this alot with the project I'm attempting to do and with being a member of New Community Project. I think I may collab with some of my SERRV buddies and make a video or something about it.

Today we had a project dealing with Dove Luminaries and they arrived in a box full of shredded paper. We took out all of the paper and then used FOUR SHEETS OF BUBBLE WRAP for each dove and its box. We wrapped 117 doves so that means 468 sheets of bubble wrap total! We all had a turn tearing bubble wrap - our shoulders are definitely stronger. =) 468 sheets of bubble wrap!! And that's not counting the sheets that we used for the owls (they each had a big bubble sheet).

The Next Overstock Blowout Sale is November 19-29th! Be there! Hopefully we will be! It's right before our Thanksgiving Break, which is only about 5 days. I wonder if my family could drive up - that would be something nice to do as a family. I want to take my family up there and volunteer, especially once I have a family of my own. I think it would be a great fmaily bonding thing to do and I could teach my children about the purpose and goals of fairtrade.

Today during our table discussion we got on the topic of how lonely the real world can be. One of our friends graduated last year and he's having a rough go at adjusting to Seminary. It's sad that the real world is lonely compared to our life in college in community. Why do we create such a wonderful community for 4 years and then change into this place of lonely pairings and distance? So, we've decided to start a Brethren Commune when we get older! It would be a place of such awesome. =)

Today we worked on:

Hoot Gord ContainerKatie's Notes: These were so wonderful and unique! We loved opening these and seeing all the different shapes that they came in! The gords are all so different - from short squat owls to owls with skinny necks and round bodies. We worked on these until closing time and we still had some left over, so we worked on these Tuesday, too. The people who made these Owls also made the Parrot Flutes that we worked on.

Peru: Manos Amigas S.A.Manos Amigas is a fair trade organization that works with small artisan organizations throughout Peru. By supporting artisans through training and finding markets for their products, they help to preserve the variety of handcraft traditions of Peru. Manos Amigas, which means "hands of friendship", gives twenty percent of its profits of help fund social welfare projects, like school scholarships, uniforms, and a feeding program for poor children.

Sparkling Winter DoveKatie's Notes: These were very beautiful! I was more on the tape and packaging end of this assembly line. Like I mentioned earlier this project alone took 468 sheets of bubble wrap! I wish in the Chapel today for BSM and we have one of these in the Chapel! =)

Bangladesh: CORR-The Jute WorksCORR – The Jute Works (CJW) was started in 1973 by CARITAS/Bangladesh, a Catholic service organization, to help rural women provide supplemental income for their families. CJW continues to bring about qualitative changes in women’s lives by providing them with opportunity for economic viability and social progress. At present, 3,515 artisans, who are members of 140 artisan groups, are supported by CJW’s work.

October 13, 2009

Day Two at SERRV was quite an experience. Our group (JJ, Megan, Tricia and I) was sad to learn that the Overstock blowout sale in the SERRV basement only lasted til Saturday. Our philosophy was to look for a couple days and then load up on Tuesday. So, we were kind of sad - but we still had a 10-20% discount upstairs. We also tossed around the idea of coming back up to New Windsor the Sale in November. SERRV has decided to only had a sale once a month for a week or so, instead of having the store downstairs open all the time.

"I knew that if SERRV was Brethren it had to be an acronym for something!" -JJ. (Oh, we had so many great quotes from this weekend!) When SERRV was established it stood for Sales Exchange for Refugee Rehabilitation and Vocation. Since then it has been changed to A Greater Gift and then back to SERRV. SERRV now represents the word "serve" as a verb of action.

We had some great Brethren Name Game moments too! JJ and Megan dominated in a couple rounds with a group from Juniata College.

The four of us worked with these really nice Lutheran Ladies. They were so sweet, but seriously witty and funny. One of them was named Lois and it reminded me of a friend I met at Annual Conference one year. They talked about their grandchildren a lot. I love that SERRV is a great place for people of all ages to volunteer! There were tables of Senior citizens, Jr and Sr highers, and middle aged people.

Today we worked on:

Perro OrnamentKatie's Note: These were an easy project. JJ and I inspected them. They were made of clay...so we had some casualties. Some puppies were decapitated or missing noses. Bless their hearts. There were only about 100 of these left over so we finished these in about an hour.

Ecuador: MCCHIn response to the rising costs of living in Ecuador during the 1980s, a group of faith-based communities organized to find a solution. The result was the formation of MCCH, a cooperative marketing organization which was started in 1985. Maquita Cushunchic Comercializando Como Hermanos, whose name is a mix of Quechua and Spanish and means “Let’s join hands and market as brothers”, represents 400 groups from all regions of Ecuador who produce both handcrafts and agricultural products.

Parrot FluteKatie's Note: These require a lot of steps! We pull them from their boxes, inspect, price, wrap in bubble wrap, and then put them back in their boxes. These don't have too many casualties, they're made really well. But when you drop them on the floor...they may break.

Peru: Manos Amigas S.A.Manos Amigas is a fair trade organization that works with small artisan organizations throughout Peru. By supporting artisans through training and finding markets for their products, they help to preserve the variety of handcraft traditions of Peru. Manos Amigas, which means "hands of friendship", gives twenty percent of its profits of help fund social welfare projects, like school scholarships, uniforms, and a feeding program for poor children.

Hoot Gord ContainerKatie's Notes: These were so wonderful and unique! We loved opening these and seeing all the different shapes that they came in! The gords are all so different - from short squat owls to owls with skinny necks and round bodies. We worked on these until closing time and we still had some left over, so we worked on these Tuesday, too. The people who made these Owls also made the Parrot Flutes that we worked on.

Peru: Manos Amigas S.A.Manos Amigas is a fair trade organization that works with small artisan organizations throughout Peru. By supporting artisans through training and finding markets for their products, they help to preserve the variety of handcraft traditions of Peru. Manos Amigas, which means "hands of friendship", gives twenty percent of its profits of help fund social welfare projects, like school scholarships, uniforms, and a feeding program for poor children.

October 10, 2009

Fall Break has started and today was our first day working at SERRV. They are a fair-trade organization who's mission is to "eradicate poverty wherever it resides by providing opportunity and support to artisans and farmers worldwide."

SERRV is celebrating it's 60th Anniversary this year! It all started in New Windsor, Maryland, which is where the Brethren Service Center is located. SERRV started as a small group of church relief workers helping refugees rebuild after World War II and has transformed over the years into a $9.5 million fair trade network connecting thousands of artisans in 35 countries throughout the world with customers and volunteers (thats us!) across the United States.

SERRV operates completely at the hands of it's Volunteers. They rely on our free labor to keep the cost down for their artisans around the world. Also, when you volunteer you get 10%-20% off of their in-store purchases (the day you work), and access to their store downstairs. It's a nice environment to work in, we get breaks before lunch and have fair trade snacks in the break room and then when you work 8 hours at the Brethren Service Center you get lunch for free in the cafeteria. Our group worked with mazes and bags today. We unpackaged the items and then inspect them, price them, and repackage them to be redistributed to stores and sold.

Each day that we work at SERRV, I'll showcase the items that we worked on. Here are the items for today!

Labyrinth Game A carved wooden maze with metal balls. Move all balls to the center and you win.India: Tara ProjectsTara Projects has been working since the early 1970s to fight exploitation, poverty, and the protection of rights of artisans against social injustices. Over the years, they have extended their services to reach nearly 1,000 artisans in several states in India. They provide support in the production and marketing of handcrafts based on fair trade principles while also addressing community development needs of grassroots craftspeople.

Mesh Market BagsKeep these strong jute bags in the car for trips everywhere from the beach to the farmers' market. Flexible shape allows the bags to expand to accommodate large items. approx 30 in. l

Bangladesh: CORR-The Jute WorksCORR – The Jute Works (CJW) was started in 1973 by CARITAS/Bangladesh, a Catholic service organization, to help rural women provide supplemental income for their families. CJW continues to bring about qualitative changes in women’s lives by providing them with opportunity for economic viability and social progress. At present, 3,515 artisans, who are members of 140 artisan groups, are supported by CJW’s work.